Monday, June 29, 2015

Nature and Spirituality on the Road North part 2

After our visit to the kibbutz we continued our ride up north towards Tsfat.  As we made our way up the winding roads one of our travelers came forward with his shorts off asking for a special brush to remove thorns from his pants... Only in Israel will you see this, a boy in his underwear asking for a thorn removal brush near the Jordanian border as we travel towards Lebanon and Syria.  We all shared a great laugh and I couldn't resist getting a picture!  Needless to say that Uri left his thorn removal brush at home, leaving Bennett's father the chore of pulling out each of the thorns.


We arrived in the mystical center of Tsfat atop the hills above the Galilee.  Uri shared some history about mysticism and Kabbala to try to help us understand why visiting Tsfat was so important and not just a nice shopping stop...





We learned that Kabbala is a way of life, trying to take the mystical properties of Judaism and making them accessible to us all.  Kabbala tries to answer the toughest question of all, why are we here?  We learned the story of a man who climbed atop the shoulders of another man, and another man crawled atop his shoulders in order that they might reach God and pull down the answers to all of life's questions.  Here is Bennett and Gary showing us how this worked...


As the third man was standing on the second's shoulder they fell, pulled a piece of God with them and shattering it all over the floor.  Kabbala tells us that we must pick up all the pieces and put them back together again.  Tsfat is the center of mysticism and Kabbala.  The main book of Kabbala is the Zohar, written on the mountain directly across from Tsfat.  Tsfat has attracted many artists to come and create in this ancient city of the Mystics and we were able to spend time walking the same streets they did so long ago.

We went inside the Karo Synagogue, a synagogue still active today, and learned more.  The blue walls were so soothing, and the sanctuary items, the Ark and Bima were beautiful.  We saw a ganiza, a place where old Torah scrolls and prayer books are laid to rest when they are no longer useful.  Inside this glass ganiza we could see the actual ancient scrolls used by the rabbis who created mystical Judaism. 




We loved the giant mezuzah that was placed in the doorpost of the entrance to the synagogue.





Here is view of Mount Meron, where the Zohar is said to have been written in a cave.




I was especially taken and moved by the Eternal Light found in this sanctuary.  It was not a electric light like we have at TAE, but rather it was a simple candle.  There is powerful message in this.  If left alone, the candle would eventually go out and the Eternal Light would be no more.  In order for the light to be eternal, it requires us to tend to it, changing it and making sure it stays lit.  In other words, like our Torah teaches us, l'ha'alot neir tamid, we have to light the light eternally.  We have to be active in preserving this light.  Just like Kabbala teaches us that we must be active in performing acts of tikkun olam, repairing our world.  It is so easy to complain about issues, much harder to do something about them.  We are a people of action.  Kabbala also teaches us to live intentionally, not just to go through the motions but to allow ourselves to be truly present.  This is a running theme of our trip, not looking ahead but staying in the moment and truly being present for ourselves and others.  So many times during our trip I have seen our travelers being present for themselves or for others, allowing others to literally lean on them when needed.



Tsfat is famous for another historic reason.  It is the place where Shlomo Alkabeitz wrote the famous poem that has become a part of our Kabbalah Shabbat service, L'cha Dodi.  We sang the version created by the Kol Han'shama synagogue in Israel.  How awesome to sing these words in the very place they were created!  We all sang with intention, with a growing energy and enthusiasm.  Each one of us will never sing the L'cha Dodi the same again, for when we are in TAE singing this we will be back in Israel connected to the very place we were at today.  We will envision the kabbalists dressed in white running in the field right by where we were towards the sunset on Friday, singing and dancing the spirit of Shabbat towards us and joining her with our souls to allow us to experience Shabbat in a deeper and more meaningful way.  I can hardly wait to sing these words again with this community in Thousand Oaks.

After our visit to the Karo synagogue was complete, we had time to shop.  The judaica in Tsfat is unmatched anywhere else in Israel.  There were so many beautiful things to see, and I think our tour single handedly boosted the economy of this ancient town.  

An amazing thing happened to Leasa and me.  As we were looking in a store where an artist was creating art with microchaligraphy, I spotted our Ketubah, our Jewish marriage license.  It turns out that this was the very store, and this the very artist that created and sold our Ketubah to my parents when they were in Israel more than 20 years ago.  What an amazing thing to have walked into his studio and shop.  Only in Israel, only in Tsfat!


We loved seeing the artist's colony in Tsfat and wish we could have stayed there longer.



But, we had to leave so we could finish our journey for the day.  


After about 30 minutes we arrived in Kibbutz Kfar Blum, our next stop for the next two nights.  This place is one of my favorite places anywhere.  There is a peace here, a serenity that comes in spite of being a stone's throw from the Lebanese and Syrian borders.  



I can hardly wait to share the north of Israel with our travelers tomorrow.  They have yet to experience the magic of the north, and I can't wait to see their response to all we will do.  Israel is an incredible place and I am so blessed to be here.  I will stay present and in the moment, and I will explore all she has to offer with great kavana, with great intention. 
























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